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Sith Empire
At its prime, the the Sith Empire '''encompassed most of '''the Slice, and reached as far as the Colonies and even Corellia. The Sith were an advanced civilization, and the dominant military and cultural power of the known world. Its origin was the planet Malachor. Originally the “Sith” were dark spirits that enthralled a people to serve them (now called the Others "are strange, beautiful… think, oh… the Sidhe “Sith” made of ice, something like that… a different sort of life… inhuman, elegant, dangerous."). Over time, this people learned to manipulate the Force and grew in power enough to throw offf the shackles of thier incorporeal overlords. The Sith Empire was ruled by the lords freeholder, powerful noble families. The most powerful of these were the knight-lords. Malachor was once a minor isolated civilization, until the Sith discovered the pearls of space-dragons lairing in the nebula Fourteen Flames, a ring of stars on the edge of known space, could be used in massive superweapons. The Sith used these crystals in their mastery of creating and wielding devastating weapons of war. They began expanding their influence, establishing the Empire with Malachor??? as its capital. Force-powered technology flowered, topless towers rose toward the heavens where starships - “dragons” - soared, and smiths used the Force to forge for the first time kyber-crystal lightsaber weapons of legendary strength and elegance. Some five thousand years ago, in the early days of the Sith, the Hutts dominated and controlled much of the Outer Rim. The Hutts attempted to stop the Sith expansion and the burgeoning Empire was involved in a series of great wars against the Hutts. The Hutt lockstep legions attacked the Sith five times, but they could never defeat them - with the help of their superweapons in the sky and their lightsaber-wielding knight-lords on the ground, the Sith Empire was able to defend and emerge victorious each time. Finally, in the last of the Ghiscari wars, the Sith marched on the Hutt homeworld, razed it to the ground, and sowed its fields with salt, sulfur, and skulls, obliterating it and thereby destroying the ancient rule of the Hutts. Adopting slavery from the Hutts, the Sith expanded its influence over the surviving Hutt colonies, and continued to conquer and colonize further. At the height of its power, the Empire stretched over most of the eastern galaxy. Many of the numerous systems were connected by early hyperspace routes, which were the precursors to today’s major trade lanes. The Free Cities, the self-ruling daughters of Valyria, are spread throughout western Essos. Volantis and Tyrosh began as military outposts, while Myr and Pentos were founded by merchants in Andal territory. Dragonlords established Lys as a pleasure retreat. Religious refugees founded Lorath, Norvos, and Qohor. Essaria was founded as a colony near the Kingdom of Sarnor. Braavos was founded by slaves who rebelled against a Valyrian slaving fleet, and this Secret City did not accept the rule of Valyria. Other cities and towns founded or conquered by the Empire were governed by archons from Valyria. The Valyrian peninsula contained Oros and Tyria. Near Volantis were built Selhorys, Volon Therys, and Valysar. South of the Painted Mountains were Bhorash, Mantarys, and Tolos, while located in Slaver's Bay were Velos on the Isle of Cedars and Elyria. The greatest remnants of the Old Empire of Ghis were Astapor, Meereen, and Yunkai. Other Ghiscari settlements were Ghozai on the Isle of Cedars, Ghardaq, and what are now Vaes Efe and Vaes Mejhah. The Doom of Valyria was a cataclysmic event in 5,000 BBY, after which the planet Valyria was utterly destroyed and the Sith Empire crumbled and was no more. The Doom fragmented the land surrounding the city itself into numerous smaller islands, creating the Smoking Sea between them. The area is now described as "demon-haunted", and most people are afraid to go there, as all known expeditions to the shattered peninsula has ended up in failure. Hence the quote, "The Doom still rules in Valyria." With Valyrian leadership destroyed, the lands outside of the peninsula fell into chaos in the ensuing Century of Blood, which saw the rise of the Free Cities. Essaria, the "Lost Free City", was reduced to ruins by the Dothraki, while Gorgossos, the "Tenth Free City", was abandoned after the Red Death plague.